India will aim to bounce back after their defeat in the opening Test against South Africa when the second match of the starts at the SuperSport Park with the focus on its batsmen. The hosts bundled out India for 209 and 135 in the two innings, registering a 72-run victory at Newlands, Cape Town. Though the visiting bowlers thrived on the lively pitch, the technique and approach of the batsmen was questioned as they failed to chase down a target of 208. India would have suffered more embarrassment if all-rounder Hardik Pandya had not come up with an audacious 93 in the first innings. But such counter-attacking and full-of-risk knock does not not pay off always and captain Virat Kohli and chief coach Ravi Shastri know that. Bounce, seam and swing were all there to see at Newlands and SuperSport Park is expected to be no less lively. The hosts have not lost at this venue since 2014. South Africa head coach Otis Gibson has already expressed his desire to stick with a four-pronged pace attack. The hosts went into the Newlands Test with their strongest quartet of seamers -- Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada. Veteran Steyn injured his left heel midway through the match and has been sidelined for four to six weeks.
Live updates between India vs South Africa, 2nd Test, Day 1, straight from Centurion
19:15 IST- Amla is upping the ante after his fifty. He's played some fine shots especially on the off side. After Markram, Amla is leading the South African charge against the Indians. South Africa 218/3
18:59 IST- Fifty up for Hashim Amla. A boundary to bring up his half-century. This is his 36th Test fifty. Also, 200 up for the hosts in 63.4 overs. South Africa 203/3
18:51 IST- OUT! Clean bowled by Ishant Sharma. AB De Villiers departs for 20 runs. ABD tries to force it on the offside, gets an inside edge and he stumps are rattled. South Africa 199/3 in 62.4 overs
18:50 IST- 50-run partnership up between Amla and De Villiers. South Africa 198/2
18:31 IST- FOUR! Hammered for four by Amla. Lose one by Bumrah after the tea break. Punches it away to the square of the wicket. South Africa 186/2
18:30 IST- And we are back after the tea break. Session 3, Day 1 begins. The final session of the day begins.
18:12 IST- Tea, Day 1 | South Africa 182/2 in 56 overs (Amla 35*, AB De Villiers 16*, R Ashwin 2/53)
It is a hot and humid day. The Indians are definitely drained but they have not dropped their shoulders even a bit. The pacers have maintained their line and length but neither of them has succeeded in taking a wicket other than Ashwin. Pandya has the knack of picking wickets but it has eluded him. India will want to take another wicket as soon as they get done with the tea break.
18:05 IST- Hardik Pandya reintroduced to the attack from the pavilion end but to no avail. South Africa 175/2
17:59 IST- India need to apply pressure on the hosts. They need to break this partnership now. As we approach tea, a wicket for the visitors could put them back in the game. South Africa 172/2
17:49 IST- Amla dropped on 14 by Hardik Pandya and 30 by Parthiv Patel. Both chances were difficult though. Will this haunt India later, we need to wait and watch. South Africa 166/2
17:34 IST- OUT! Big blow. Markram departs. Change of angle from Ashwin has done the trick. Decision reviewed. Caught behind for Markram. A brilliant innings comes to an end. He departs for 94 runs. Misses on ton by 6 runs. South Africa 148/2 after 47.3 overs
17:28 IST- Partnership of 63 runs from 101 balls. Amla and Markram have steadied their ship after Elgar's departure. South Africa 148/1
Score Update | SA 145/1
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) January 13, 2018
Markram 93
Amla 19#ProteaFire #FreedomSeries #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/5wrYyUSYdD
17:12 IST- DRINKS. Time to regroup and strategise for both the teams. South Africa 140/1 in 43 overs
17:10 IST- FOUR! Markram is utilising his skills to hit the poor deliveries. Just pushes the ball to the offside. He has now reached 83 off 133 balls. Markram has played some exquisite shots. His wagon wheel suggests he has cored all over the park. He has played some intelligent cricket today. South Africa 135/1
16:59 IST- Amla is taking on Ashwin now with a boundary. He seems to be growing in confidence. Pandya had a chance, tough one though, to take Amla's catch on 14. South Africa 126/1
16:45 IST- 100 up for South Africa in the 35th over. Amla gets to the team's 100 with a superb drive to the boundary. The host have shown resilience throughout their first innings. Markram will look to convert his fifty into a hundred. South Africa 101/1
16:35 IST- FOUR! Poor delivery by Ishant. Too straight. Markram gives it the treatment it deserved. He has been wonderful in this innings. If he stays like this, South Africa could end up posting a huge total. He has been strong on the leg side throughout his innings. South Africa 92/1
16:21 IST- OUT! Elgar departs for a gritty 31. Murali Vijay takes a good catch at silly point. Finally, India get the breakthrough. Danger man Hashim Amla is next. South Africa 85/1
16:13 IST- FOUR to end the over with. Straight drive over the bowler's head for a four. Elgar is now bating on 30. South Africa 83/0
16:10 IST- Day 1, Session 2 begins
And we are back with the live updates. Ashwin begins the proceedings.
15:31 IST- Lunch. Good first session for South Africa after Markram's fifty. Elgar, with his 26, also played a good knock for the hosts. India will look to regroup at the lunch break. South Africa 78/0 after 27 overs. (Markram 51*, Elgar 26*, Ishant 0/12)
15:24 IST- FIFTY! Markram shows his class after his fifty. This is his 2nd Test fifty. Looked in control right from the outset. 50 runs off 81 balls with 9 fours. South Africa 72/0
15:17 IST- NOT OUT! Big appeal for caught behind off Ashwin's ball. Decision reviewed. Good relex catch by Parthiv Patel behind the stumps. Elgar, batting on 20, awaits his fate. No edge. India lose their review. South Africa 61/0
Extra bounce in Centurion on show....hardly anything hitting the stumps today. But no lateral movement must make bowlers target the stumps more...perhaps, bowl the Indian length. Fuller. #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/ZirWhoImGi
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 13, 2018
15:12 IST- Lose delivery by Bumrah and gets the necessary treatment by Markram. Ball races away to the boundary. It was a half-volley down the leg side. South Africa 60/0
15:06 IST- FOUR! Markram is very strong on the leg side. With the boundary, its 50 up for the hosts. Two boundaries off Bumrah's over. South Africa 55/0 in 21 overs
15:00 IST- R Ashwin is brought into the attack. After pacers failed to get a breakthrough, Kohli called on the spinner for wicket-taking duties.
14:45 IST- The wicket is not as green as Cape Town was in the first Test. However, there's little grass on it here at Centurion. Last 10 overs, South Africa has scored 25 runs for the loss of no wickets. Couple of slips and a gully for Sharma but still no breakthrough for the visitors. South Africa 37/0
14:37 IST- South Africa have weathered the initial storm by the Indian pacers. The first hour has seen the hosts play well, leave the off stump deliveries and tried no fancy shots. South Africa 36/0
14:24 IST- Hardik Pandya comes into bowl for India. India need a breakthrough as both South Africa batsmen look set. South Africa 35/0
A great crowd at SuperSport Park enjoying the 2nd Sunfoil Test. Relatively good start from SA with the score on 34/0
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) January 13, 2018
Markram 24
Elgar 9#SAvIND #ProteaFire #FreedomSeries pic.twitter.com/mkv1vEcUn5
14:17 IST- FOUR! Shami is getting hammered with two boundaries off his over. Some good looking shots by Markram. South Africa 31/0
14:08 IST- Decent start for the hosts. They seem to have a laid a foundation. Both Elgar and Markram have been solid with the latter scoring more runs. South Africa 19/0
14:04 IST- Ishant Sharma is the new bowler for India. A superb delivery in his first over that carried well to the keeper. A good first over by Ishant, gives away only a single run. South Africa 16/0
13:56 IST- South Africans have played well until now. Leaving balls outside the off stump and not trying to force any shot. Markram making good use of height to play short balls. South Africa 14/0 in 6 overs
13:45 IST- FOUR! Beautiful shot. Punched towards the offside boundary. Gets right on top of the ball. Races towards the boundary for Markram. Back-to-back boundaries for him. Terrific shot driven through the mid wicket. Ishant Sharma loses the chase as the ball reaches the boundary. Good over for the Proteas. South Africa 12/0
13:42 IST- South Africa finally begin to score runs. Four runs from Bumrah's over. South Africa 4/0
Staggered by the exclusion of Bhuvaneswar. Staggered.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 13, 2018
13:39 IST- First runs on the board for the hosts. Elgar off the mark with a single.
13:37 IST- Mohammed Shami takes the ball for the visitors from the pavilion end. He gets good bounce in his first over. Shami varying with his pace and Markram playing cautiously. He is getting the balls smartly away from the batsman. A good first over for Shami. No runs from the first two overs.
South Africa 0/0
13:34 IST- Bumrah maintaining his line and length in his first over. Elgar has been careful. No runs off the first over. South Africa 0/0
13:30 IST- Match begins
Both South African openers at the crease. Markram and Elgar are the two openers for the hosts. Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah begins the proceedings for the visitors.
13:25 IST- National Anthems being played of both the teams. Its almost time now.
13:15 IST: Team Changes:
INDIA: Wriddhiman Saha is out with a hamstring niggle. Parthiv replaces him.
KL replaces Shikhar Dhawan.
Ishant Sharma replaces Bhuvneshwar Kumar
South Africa:
Lungi Ngidi makes debut
13:13 IST: Playing XIs:
India: Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma
South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungisani Ngidi, Morne Morkel
13:00 IST: TOSS: South Africa captains Faf Du Pessis wins toss and opts to bat against India in Centurion.
Toss update: South Africa have won the toss and elected to bat first in the 2nd Test. Three changes for #TeamIndia. KL Rahul, Ishant Sharma and Parthiv Patel are in the Playing XI #SAvIND #FreedomSeries pic.twitter.com/kbj1louaSU
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 13, 2018
12:30 IST: Hello and welcome to the Live coverage from the opening day of the second Test between India and South Africa in Centurion.
All set for the 2nd Test. #TeamIndia #SAvsIND pic.twitter.com/yw4Op5pC6q
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 13, 2018
If Kohli wins the toss, opting to bowl will be obvious option. Doing so will not only shield the batsmen from the early onslaught of the hosts' pacemen but also allow the visiting bowlers to run into the opposition with full steam. Seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya, alongwith lone spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bundled out the hosts for 130 in the second innings at Newlands. South Africa will depend upon Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis to score the bulk of runs.
